なう (nau, “now”)

an event/action is taking place right now

This is a loanword from “now” in English. It’s usually used on social media like Twitter (X) to share with your followers what you are doing right now.

Similarly, when you describe an action/event in the past or future, わず (“was”) or うぃる (“will”) are used (e.g. 渋谷でデートわず: “I had a date in Shibuya”). However, these words have become more outdated compared to なう (in my opinion).

ラーメンなう

I’m eating ramen now.

スタバなう
I’m at Starbucks